THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:  

During the 1950s, filmmakers produced the greatest Biblical epics of our time: Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. Movies were also made about Jesus' life. A silent film The King of Kings and a similarly titled 1961 version were filmed. George Stevens The Greatest Story Ever Told is a wonderful epic about Jesus' short life on earth before His Resurrection.  It was also one of Stevens' last major projects. It's a classic to behold.

The film begins as King Herod sits in his lonely palace when a messenger brings him news: a baby boy has been born in Bethlehem and is considered to be the new King predicted by the prophet Isaiah. King Herod (a puppet ruler appointed by the Roman government) is curious about this child, since he considers himself a king and is somewhat skeptical of another person ruling over him. He sends three men to investigate. These men follow a star in the sky in order to find the new baby king; they are eventually led to a stable and bring with them presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The baby's name should come as no surprise: He is Jesus. Fearful King Herod will kill Baby Jesus, the three wise men inform Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt until Herod's death. Just as they make it to Egypt, King Herod orders the murder of all infant males in the area. Soon he dies and Joseph and Mary go back to Bethlehem with Jesus.

The film "fast forwards" to John the Baptist (Charlton Heston) performing baptisms in a river. While he's performing these spiritual acts, Jesus (famed Swedish actor Max von Sydow) appears to him and asks John to baptize Him. John looks a little reluctant at first but then agrees to baptize Jesus. After His baptism, Jesus goes to a local fishing village to gather His disciples and meet with His best friend Lazarus. From this point on Jesus and His disciples wander around the dusty desert, praying, performing miracles, and talking about the parables told by Jesus. By this time crowds of people begin to follow Him, hearing about His miracles of raising individuals from death (Lazarus), helping the blind to see, and the crippled to walk. He even benevolently forgave Mary Magdalene of her affairs with other men.

When word spreads to the Roman government officials and King Herod's successor (also named King Herod), they are worried Jesus will cause an uprising. The Pharisees are also angry at Jesus for blasphemy, because He claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah. Word finally reaches Pontius Pilate (Telly Savalas) and Caiaphas (Martin Landau) and Jesus is given a trial. Despite the fact that Pilate could find no fault with Him, crowds obviously want him crucified and amnesty given to Barabbas, a convicted murderer. As His supporters, family, and disciples watched in horror, Jesus carries His cross to Calvary, with the help of Simon of Cyrene (Sidney Poitier) where He is promptly crucified.

The film's objectionable content is very mild in comparison to The Passion of the Christ. Fights break out between prisoners and Roman officials. Jesus' crown of thorns on his head draw some blood but not much. Sexual content is mild. Women do sensual dances in Herod's palace and wear revealing clothing (Salome is one of them; she's the one who ordered the beheading of John the Baptist). Male frontal nudity is seen briefly on a statue of Caesar. It's implied that Mary Magdalene led a life of adultery before Jesus forgave her. The film could easily get a PG or a very tame PG-13 today.

I cannot convey how spiritually uplifting this film is. The Greatest Story goes through Jesus' birth, life, death, and Ressurrection, and takes 3 hours and 20 minutes to do so (the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth is longer than that, clocking in at 6 hours). Still, it's a wonderful film and it was awesome to hear how Jesus might have addressed His disciples. It's also chock full of big name film stars. Swedish actor Max von Sydow (who worked previously with director Ingmar Bergman in Christian-themed films such as The Seventh Seal and The Virgin Spring) is wonderful as Jesus. His English accent is quite clear and easy to understand. Telly Savalas, known as Theo Kojack in the famous TV series, makes an appearance as Pilate. John Wayne makes a cameo appearance as a Roman centurion, Roddy McDowell plays Matthew, one of the twelve disciples, Claude Rains plays King Herod, as well as a handful of other celebrities make their marks in this movie. 

In comparison to Mel Gibson's film, this is not as realistic. Jesus appears to be quite strong in carrying His Cross to Calvary, even with Simon helping him. In The Passion, Christ is covered in blood, extremely weak, and unable to carry His own body weight to Calvary without help from Simon. Plus, Mel Gibson's movie focuses on the last 12 hours of Christ's life while George Stevens focuses his version on Christ's entire life. To paraphrase the pastor at my church, "One cannot romanticize the Crucifixion." Stevens' story is well made and well acted but the Crucifixion is not realistic, whereas Gibson's is extremely realistic to depict the suffering Jesus went through for our sins. For children or those who cannot sit through violent scenes, this is an adequate substitute to learn about the life and times of Jesus Christ. The film received five Oscar nominations. All in all, both films are equally wonderful in telling Jesus' story.